Android fans rumored to be getting bigger, more powerful HTC 8X clone with the M7

Here’s an interesting twist: An HTC Windows Phone design is evidently being reused for a new Android phone. Yes, after a few cycles of having it in reverse it appears now that HTC will take their highly praised 8X design and recycle it for a new Android M7.

The images come via Android Police and while this is far from official (or 100% confirmed), the phone looks different enough from the 8X to be legitimate.

Sense 5.0 is reportedly on board though specs were not elaborated upon. The camera LED, normally to the right of the camera on the 8X, has been moved to the left and the same goes for the front facing camera, which has also swapped sides. As Android Police point out, this could be an elaborate hoax but it fits with HTC’s MO of reusing previous designs across platforms to reduce cost (and bank on success if the design is popular).

Earlier rumored specifications of the device suggest that this is basically a bigger more badass 8X. As reported by our sister site Android Central, the twitter account @evleaks spilled the deets saying the M7 has “a 1080p display at 4.7 inches with an eye watering 468PPI. Underneath is said to be a second-generation Qualcomm quad-core processor, 2GB of RAM and 32GB of internal storage.”

Clearly we can see HTC moving into the 1080P range for displays, something for which they reportedly want to do with Windows Phone 8 but can’t. Ironically, if Windows Phone 8 does get bumped for 1080P, we could see the 8X rebranded as the M7 come back to Windows Phone as the 8X2 or something similar, completing the odd HTC product design cycle.

The M7 is rumored to be revealed at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next month.

So how do you folks feel over Windows Phone now being mimicked for Android? Better than before when we were getting recycled designs or worse knowing that Android fans will finally get that 8X look and feel? Let us know.

Well being 1080P its going to have either 1/2 the refresh rate of a 720P screen, or it will have double the pixels to shift so double the power consumption (and parts of the CPU/GPU will have to work twice as hard).
All for a benefit that (if the Retina argument is true) cannot be seen.

It doesnt really matter what the human I can see, what matters is that you van boast about having the latest greatest.
This thing better have a 16-core to beat Samsung's 8-core because 1080p is only 'above average' when it comes to gadget d*ck comparisons.

They could easily add 1080P support in the middle of a device cycle if they wanted to. They added LTE support for The Lumia 900 and Titan II when it wasn't part of the hardware specification. The question is whether it's a feature that OEMS are pushing hard enough for that they have to do it. LTE was critical to AT&T, so they made it happen. 1080P doesn't seem to be that important with WP8 already supporting 720P and 768P. Its basically just buzz word marketing because no mobile video is remotely close to that resolution and pushing those pixels is just killing batteries

This is the single biggest reason I bought a Lumia 920 instead of an 8X, though I've always been loyal to HTC in the past. 32gb in more colors for half the price? No-brainer, especially when you throw in Nokia's superior software.

HTC have to do what they have to do to be ahead of the competition. MS WP, well we have to wait till fall to know what the next big thing is. Seems as though wp's trend is stale during spring and summer and picking up during winter. Fall is the anticipation.

Spreading what little eggs you have in a field of a thousand other eggs is smart? Put your eggs in the basket that you are most likely to be picked from. If they push Windows Phone hard enough they could be a dominant force in that market rather than a 4th or 5th choice in the Android market. Just seems more logical to me.

Definitely. Microsoft needs to stop restricting these requirements and give developers and manufacturers the ability to compete in the 1080p market. Getting blown out of the water by a second rate OS (Android) is embarrassing.

What Microsoft is doing is smart. They actually have control over their OS and are gradually getting to where they want to be. This allows them to get their OS to the state it needs to be in, in order to compete. They don't want to rush into a market that is already owned by Android and IOS. If they were to release a version of WP that they rushed into and didn't finish, they would be embarrassed and as of now they simply can't afford that. I really like their approach, a controlled environment that is open to many manufactures.

First off these restrictions are the minimum, so the company can add the latest and greatest into a phone. Second it the companies fault for not adding the 1080p screens when both the 8x and 920 offer the highest resolution screens you will see in the market for now so adding a 1080p screen is just stupid, besides its just a marketing stunt, so you can spend your money on stuff that won't look different, in terms of screen resolution.

I'm assuming it ships with a magnifying glass to make use of that ppi. Seriously, 1080p on a 4.7" display is just specs for specs sake. Why not work on viewing angle, refresh rate, color accuracy, brightness, screen reflectance or any other important component of screen quality that people might actually notice.

I've never understood viewing angle. I want less on my phone and tablet and laptop! I have an idea for an invention, instead of a stupid sticky film use a parallax screen that can use software to adjust the viewing angle instead of making the image 3d. So privacy when I want it, four kids watching Netflix when I need that.

You know what you see and experience coming from Touchwiz?? You obviously don't know much about Android. You don't understand that all skins ruin the true Android feel. So to base Jellybean off of the S3's Touchwiz is very shallow. Try out a Nexus 7/10/4 and then post your concerns. Those devices offer a far better experience than you will ever get from a skinned Android device.

True. And to be completely honest, my 920 lags a lot! Much more than my friends sg3 or note 2, much more. It also (still) reboots occasionally, back arrow button only works sporadically, and sometimes my start screen jumps continuously until I restart my phone, etc. (tip of the iceberg for how many problems my 920 has)
These same problems persisted on my 900 before this! Never had this problem with my HTC Radar or HD2, running WP7. So let's not act like this OS is perfect, it's not, nothing perfect exists. Especially in tech!
But honestly if the M7 looks that good, it may be my next phone!

Hmm, since you experienced some of the issues on the 900 (jumping start screen) I'm wondering if its (at the risk of sounding like Apple) your grip? Its about the only thing common between the two phones.

I love WP8, but I have an HTC 8x and it lags big time for some reason and it's pissing me off because my old WP never did this, and this is my second phone.. T-Mobile.. Anyone else has this problem right now?

When I click on an app it stutters all the time almost, and it did the same on my other one I returned also.. And it could just be maybe both are defects.. I still have it and love it but I hate the lag..

That's weird. The 8x I got for my mom does not lag at all and its T-Mobile. I even compared it side by side to my radar and it smokes it! The only issue my mom has is every once in the while when she calls me or other people it seems to sound muffled but its intermittent. I don't think it's a coverage issue. Possibly interference? Bad mic?

Yeah I agree that it's weird because I know that WP's aren't known to lag. Maybe it's a defective phones I have.. I am going to contact HTC, MS & T-Mobile about this, because I'm having a nit so good experience right now and I love WP, hate iPhone & Android... I'm trying to get my wife to get rid of her Android phone & get a WP, but it's hard too when my phone is lagging with hers, and the apps she likes isn't there, plus she doesn't like the two screens that WP offers.. They need to add one or two more screens I think..

Most likely background tasks or low storage. On my HD7 if I get below 1GB free it starts to lag periodically. Apparently this is a common issue with HTC mobiles. I've also had a rogue app that would periodically check for new content and it would lag my mobile. I disabled all background tasks, but it was still an issue as it was in one that I couldn't turn off manually. I uninstalled the apps 1 by 1 until I found the culprit. It would've been nice to have a task manager in that instance to see what was running at that precise moment when it started chugging.

Didn't really answer my question. It seems there's an app for everything on iDevices but not much for WP8. Common apps like Twitter took wp8 forever to get. Dice with buddies,official sports apps...etc. I'm just not seeing much.

Market penetration and exposure would be my best guess. iDevices were first to market, built up their app store and phones. wp8 does not have the same market share or awareness. I am not a dev but a bigger market for similar effort makes sense to pursue. There are other factors but that is probably the biggest for most developers.

Who seriously cares if it looks the same? I didn't buy my phone to look cool or show it off. I bought it because I liked the design and it functions for what I need it for. Now as for the Android aspect, enjoy your lag and crash fest that destroys your battery.

Well, since WP is the OS I wouldn't call it mimik AT ALL.
The phone design is responsability of HTC, not Microsoft. Saying that it will be mimiking is the same as saying that Windows Phone mimiked Symbian with the Lumia 800 / Nokia N9.

That said, I only buy Nokia phones so I don't really care if HTC reuses the design of the 8X... I will be more interested if Nokia reuses the design of a Lumia for a Nokia Android in the future =P

I get asked if my 920 is the new, bigger iPhone in a red case or a Note 2, at least once a week. Most have never heard of Windows Phone when I tell them. Then they walk away uninterested. Sad but true.

I think this makes HTC look like they are lacking creatively the Android fans will be ok with this because throwing Android on anything turns them on but that Ativ S makes me disgusted with Samsung so this pretty much causes the same reaction but I guess it's our job as consumers not to buy it to show them we don't want recycled hardware

If this is indeed true, than I am somewhat disappointed. I mean HTC gets to make a signature WP device and then they re-use the design for an android phone? To me that is simply cheap and pathetic. It's like HTC is simply not giving a ... Consequently this is why I think MS should make their own hardware. Or buy Nokia already, and let them make it for them. But seeing a nice WP design reused for droids is just an eyesore.

Why is Nokia doing a lumia Android more interesting then this yes I'd be in raged but really no matter who is doing it im not a fan of it give me something unique for the $ im shelling out and thats my main reason I went from palm/webos to WP/Nokia it offers an unique experience

webOS was pretty unique with it's cards. I still miss some of it's features, especially the magnetic wireless charger. The ridiculous thing with this copy is not the copying (we've seen that from htc and Samsung as recycled Androids) , it's the fact that the 8X is a signature device! It's the "hardware face" of Windows Phone. It's really lame to reuse a signature design for a different platform.

Why didn't HTC do this from the get go with WP8 it would have sold even better I would have bought one. I didn't upgrade my HD7 to 8x for this reason. I wanted something biger than the 16 and something bigger than that the 4.3 Nothing on T-MO that meets me needs so I held off for me. I knew HTC would do something like this but I thought it would have been for WP8.

They still wont sell more than Samsung. They need to concentrate on battery, wifi connectivity, data connectivity and touch responsiveness before they get into this dick measuring exercise cause they wont win. At least Samsung adds stuff like smart stay, best photo, s pen e.t.c.

Dick measuring? ROTFL. Not the point of them selling more or less than Sammy. My point is, android is where much development is happening in the mobile space. There is no denying that. That OS gives them the freedom to do virtually anything they want to do on top of it. Windows Phone aka Microsoft, simply isn't there yet. But once MS has a solid enough platform, API's and tools, things will change here and quickly but that day isn't today.
Today the development juggernaut is at Android. That isn't to say, development isn't happening anywhere BUT android, but it has the lions share of visible development is there. And yes, Sammy rules and I still believe, its only a matter of time before they attack this platform the way they know now. If they ever do, Nokia better have a plan B.

Why do some of yall think having a Nokia makes this a none issue I have one and the issue is HTC and Samsung should be put under some kind of pressure not to do this and keep things creative and innovative both companies need a vision for each OS they make hardware for and they should be tailored to that Os I think it's an insult to us to beef up the 8x design and specs and throw it on Android just like the Ativ S may or may not be a dumb down of the SG3 ...FYI everyone doesn't want a Nokia people!!!

@microsoft junkie, I have the S2 skyrocket running custom jb, but my phone is rooted, unlocked so I run custom roms, and my skyrocket is every bit as smooth as my Lumia 920.. If you have an android and not rooted, then there lies the problem.

Not surprised at all. HTC already gave Android that design. Take a good look at the Droid DNA. Same build material, Beats Audio in the rear, and battery sandwiched behind the screen. Considering the large number of Android users, HTC will probably sell 10 times as many M7s as 8Xs and then we'll have to hear every tech reporter tell Nokia "I told you so". That's why I'm voting with my wallet and buying a Nokia as soon as they release a proper Hero Phone on Verizon.